Geek FAQ

Below you will find a growing list of answers to some of the many questions that we’re routinely asked, but you will find the most comprehensive answers in our official FAQ/Q&A threads on the Axanar Fan Group on Facebook. Be sure to join that group and stay abreast of the latest information! You can also find many of the answers to common and important questions in the email updates that are sent directly to the inboxes of our donors through Kickstarter.

When does Axanar take place?

Axanar is the story of Garth of Izar and the Four Years War. It takes place in 2245, 9 years before “The Cage (2254) and 21 years before Where No Man Has Gone Before (2266).

What universe does Axanar take place in?

Because of JJ Trek 2009, there are now two different universes. The “Prime Timeline” that TOS, TNG, DS9, Voyager and Enterprise take place in, and the “JJverse” of the new movies. Axanar takes place firmly in the prime universe. Because frankly, that is what fans love most.

Why does the USS Ares deflector look more like a TMP deflector?

What did the Reliant’s deflector look like? What did the NX-01’s deflector look like? There are many different types of Starfleet ships and many different types of deflectors. Some you can’t even see (like the Reliant) as the function isn’t fulfilled by a “dish”. So that being said, the USS Ares deflector is different as it is a different class of ship.

Will the Ares crew have the Starfleet chevron on their chest? Don’t ships of that era each have their own patch?

In TOS season one’s “Court Martial”, we see that everyone in Starfleet has a chevron patch. But in season two, we see unique ship patches for the Exeter (Omega Glory) and the Constellation (The Doomsday Machine). This is an internal contradiction that cannot be reconciled. Even Mike Okuda agrees this is the case. And as Mike explained, Bob Justman the producer wanted everyone to use the Starfleet patch (presumably for financial reasons) while it was Bill Theiss, the costume designer, that introduced separate patches.

So BOTH of these are correct. We choose to give our crew their own ship patch, as it is simply more fun.

Will there be Aliens on the USS Ares?

Since Axanar takes place in the Primer universe, 20 years before TOS, we try to fit into what we see in TOS. So, the question is not only are there be aliens aboard the USS Ares, but are there aliens in Starfleet in the Prime Universe?

Well, let’s see what TOS had to say about those questions…

1. There are no aliens on the USS Enterprise in TOS. The only exception is Spock, who is half-Vulcan.
2. Spock is the only alien we see in Starfleet until TMP.
3. The Vulcans fully crew the USS Intrepid (destroyed in The Immunity Syndrome). Thus, this must be under Vulcan control, not Starfleet.
4. Kirk refers to UESPA, the United Earth Space Probe Agency, which we see in “Enterprise” as well and is referred to in both as “Starfleet Command”.

So it seems we don’t have integrated crews 100 years after the founding of the Federation. (Granted we see a few aliens in the crew of the Kelvin in the JJverse, but we assume they are exceptions). So from the above 4 facts, it appears that maybe each member of the Federation has its own fleet. And maybe they coordinate, but they certainly don’t integrate.

In Axanar you WILL see Vulcans in the Federation, and you WILL see an Andorian captain. And if we play it right, a whole ship crewed by Andorians.

Why do you say in Prelude to Axanar that the Enterprise is being built in orbit around Axanar when it was built over San Francisco?

We don’t say that. Go back and listen to Prelude to Axanar again. Silly human.

How did you design the world of “Axanar”

Designing the world of Star Trek that takes place 20 before TOS is a very challenging endeavor. Many people complain that “Enterprise” didn’t seem to fit into the timeline. Meaning, how do you get from “Enterprise” to TOS? Unfortunately, TOS was designed in 1966 with an almost 50 year old view of what the future would be like. When we now look at the future, things that were cutting edge like desktop monitors and data PADDs are already obsolete by current standards. So we assume that Star Trek is a simply one possible future, where the Eugenics Wars happened and history unfolded differently. We accept that the future looks like TOS and we try to estimate what technology 20 years before TOS would look like. But we do that with our current view of technology and design aesthetics.

So ultimately, “Axanar” will look different than TOS, and hopefully believable in being 20 years earlier.

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